


The Home Sweet Home Job

by farkenshnoffingottom



Category: Leverage
Genre: Fluff, Multi, POV Outsider, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Pre-OT3, Suburbia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 01:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22007371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farkenshnoffingottom/pseuds/farkenshnoffingottom
Summary: Hardison’s Nana needs help with a predatory Homeowners Association, and Hardison and the team are only too happy to help.---Wherein Hardison reconnects with his Nana, Eliot shows off his grilling skills, Parker wears egregious combinations of pastels, and Nana makes the team confront their feelings.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 34
Kudos: 345
Collections: 2019 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange





	The Home Sweet Home Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sophoklesworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophoklesworld/gifts).



> This is a gift for sophoklesworld for the Leverage Secret Santa Exchange. Many many thanks to [Karios](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/) for cheering me on and beta reading this! I would never have gotten to this point without your encouragement. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> This entire thing is just cheesy and full of cliches, but I don’t care.
> 
> In this fic, Nana has mild hEDS. I do have a chronic illness, but it's not EDS, so please feel free to let me know if I've said something wrong. It's not the focus of the story, but it is a piece of it.

Nana stares at the piece of paper sporting “Second Notice Regarding Outstanding Balance” in big, bold letters taped to her door and sighs. The Homeowners Association has been ramping up the hostilities, trying to force her to move away from the neighborhood she's lived in for decades. She doesn’t know the details of what exactly her grandson does, but she knows he helps people. He's told her she can always come to him for help, but she's never taken him up on the offer. She always insists she can take care of herself on her own, and for the most part, she does. She has been passive-aggressively resisting the HOA, but as other neighbors bow to the pressure of bullshit fees and strict lawn regulations, it is becoming harder to stand up against them. She pulls out her phone and calls her grandson.

"Hey, Nana," he says.

"Alec, I need your help."

~~~

Alec and his team - Friends? Partners? Lovers? - have moved into the neighborhood for a while to help her. The other two are posing as a couple moving into their first house, clad in pastel cardigans and khaki pants. Alec is staying with Nana, and he’s trying to be discreet about the fact that he sneaks over to the others’ house every night, but Nana knows. 

He is also trying to keep the details of this con from her. She suspects it’s because he wants to give her plausible deniability, since she asked them to come and help her, and she knows what they’re doing is technically illegal.

She’s glad to finally meet these people who are obviously close to Alec, and whom she’s only heard about through phone calls. They’re sitting in her living room, the blond - Parker - in front, with Alec behind her, and the third - Eliot - leaning against the wall. Nana is explaining what’s going on in her neighborhood. The HOA has been sending her notices that she has several outstanding fines. One notice informed her that her lawn was half a centimeter too high. She had subluxated her knee that week and couldn’t walk to take care of it. She ended up having to hire someone to come mow the lawn for her periodically, and with that plus the medical bills, she couldn’t have paid their fines, even if she wanted to. Every week she didn’t, they would charge her more. 

“And they aren’t above using intimidation to get what they want, either,” she tells them. “Some of the other families that have lived here for as long as I have were forced to move out. Just last week, the Hendersons put up a for-sale sign, and I know for a fact they don’t want to go. It’s that Mrs. Miller and her friends that are causing all the trouble. I think everyone is just trying to keep their houses in order, but some of the neighbors are starting to turn against each other, and that’s almost worse. I’ve lived here for over twenty years, now, and it’s never felt less like home.” She glances at Alec before continuing. “Now that it’s just me living here, I need this community more than ever, but so many of my friends have left. It’s hard work taking care of a house, and I’m worried I won’t be able to keep it up… I don’t want to leave, but it’s getting harder to stay.”

Parker nods seriously. “We’re going to help you keep your home. What they’re doing isn’t right, and I promise you, we will make them stop.” She stands up, glancing towards Eliot, and they move in sync out the door. Nana notes how well they move together, communicating without words, obviously intimately familiar with each other’s presence. Alec introduced Parker as his girlfriend, and she can see that. But seeing them all in the same room together, she wonders if there isn’t more. 

“Don’t worry, Nana,” Alec says. “When we’re done with them, no one will ever bother you again.” 

“What _are_ you going to do to them?” she asks, half concerned about the safety of those in the neighborhood, but mostly just grateful this team is here, ready to help.

“Oh, we’re just going to show them what it means to be a good neighbor, that’s all,” he says, grinning at her as he sets up with his laptop on the kitchen table.

~~~

The next morning, Nana bakes a casserole, puts on her favorite sweater, and walks slowly, arm in arm with Alec, over to “meet the new neighbors.” Of course, she has already met Parker and Eliot, and she knows full well that Alec snuck over to their house last night, but she finds it oddly thrilling to pretend. She and Alec make their way up the stairs to the front door, and she knocks three times, then waits for them to answer. Parker opens the door, and Nana has to stifle a laugh. She’s wearing a light pink shirt with an orange paisley sweater tied over her shoulders. She has yellow and blue checked pants, and her hair is held back by a light green sweatband to complete the look. None of her clothes match each other, and she seems delighted by that fact. Eliot stands behind her, looking put-upon, in chinos and a pale cardigan. Nana smiles as she holds out her dish, saying, “I just made you a little something to welcome you to the neighborhood.” When Parker takes the dish, she holds out her hand and says “This is my grandson, Alec, and you can call me Nana.”

Parker takes her hand and says, in her most aggressively enthusiastic voice, “Oh, this is so sweet, you shouldn’t have. My hubby and I will just eat this right up. I’m Sharon, and this adorable little teddy-bear behind me is Chaz. We’re so excited to be moving in here!”

Alec’s lips are twitching. Nana glances at him and sees how fondly he’s looking at the both of them, even as he’s clearly thinking how ridiculous they look. She’s starting to understand what’s going on here, between the three of them.

Parker elbows Eliot in the gut, and he begrudgingly parrots, “Yes, we’re so excited.” He looks personally offended by Parker’s choice of names, but Nana imagines that if he were in Alec’s place, he would find this very funny. They make small talk for another minute, and then Nana and Alec make their way back across the street and down the block to her house.

~~~

That night, Nana sits in the rocking chair by her fireplace and hums to herself as she reads a book. She mostly reads nonfiction these days, but tonight she felt like diving into the comfort of another world. This particular book is an old favorite of hers, the spine worn from years of love, and she flips ahead to the middle of the book, around where she remembers her favorite part starting.

She reads for almost an hour before she hears her grandson making noises in the kitchen. He’s looking in her fridge, grumbling to himself about the lack of “good food,” and she would smack him lightly upside the head for his insult, were she not so comfortable in her chair. His definition of good food is probably some horrifying gummy thing made in a lab somewhere, anyway, so she doesn’t feel bad for the leftover pasta and vegetables in her fridge. Grumbling aside, he does take out the container of pasta and put it in the microwave, much to Nana’s satisfaction.

Alec glances over his shoulder at her and calls, “Hey, Nana, do you want anything?”

“I could use another glass of water,” she responds, and he fills a cup for her while his food heats. “Thank you, dear,” she says as he sets the glass down - on a coaster, because he knows better than to leave stains on her furniture - and smiles at her. He glances around the living room, and grabs a blanket that had been folded on the back of the couch.

He brings it over, setting it down next to her, saying, “Just in case you need it later.” 

She’s hit with a memory of him, fifteen-years-old, coming home from school to find her shivering on the couch because she hadn’t been able to get up. He’d gone into her bedroom and brought the comforter from her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders. He’d sat with her on the couch, with fear and sadness and frustration behind his eyes, until she had built up enough energy to stand again. He’d gotten her to bed, then told her that he wouldn’t let her try to deal with this on her own anymore. He took her to the hospital the next day, and when she said she’d never be able to afford it, he simply looked at her and told her, “Leave it to me.” He was with her through every appointment, and they celebrated together when she got a diagnosis and started on a treatment plan. She knew he’d stolen the money, but she was just so relieved that she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him. Even back then, he used his skills to help people.

“Thank you,” she tells him again, hoping he will understand she’s thanking him for so much more than just this moment. He leans down to hug her, and she feels warm and content.

~~~

A week into the team’s stay, Nana and Alec are taking another walk. They’re going on a circuitous route to make it seem as if they aren’t just heading straight to Eliot and Parker. As they turn the corner, Nana gets treated to the sight of the two of them doing yard work in outfits that look very impractical for anything other than drinking iced tea in a lounge chair. They have already laid new sod, and Parker is now directing Eliot as to where to transplant some sunflowers from their tiny garden-store pots. She has hedge clippers and is trimming a hedge into the garish shape of a flamingo. Nana has to approve.

She and Alec have been walking through the neighborhood every day, and she really does love spending time with her grandson, as she so rarely gets to see him these days. They talk on the phone frequently, but it isn’t quite the same. 

Today, she has an ulterior motive for her walk. It isn’t just luck that they leave her house while Eliot is outside working in the garden. “Oh, I have been thinking about moving my dresser to the other side of my room, you know?” she says to Alec. Raising her voice, she calls out to Eliot, “Young man! Young man, I wonder if I could borrow you for a moment. I have some heavy furniture to move, and I just can’t manage it. You look like you could help me.”

Alec turns to look at her, offended, and says, “What, you think I’m not strong enough to do it?”

“Of course you are, dear,” Nana says, patting his arm absently. “Since I’m taking her extra set of hands, why don’t you stay here and help Sharon with her planting? That’s it.” She has already turned around and started moving towards her house. A few steps away, she turns and looks at Eliot, who is looking rather steamrollered, and says, “Chaz? Be a dear and help me, would you?” She keeps walking home, knowing that Eliot will follow her.

When they get back to her house, Nana asks Eliot to shift her cabinets around, just in case anyone is looking through the window. After he’s done moving things, she sits him down on the couch, handing him a platter of cookies. “Do you take milk in your tea, dear?” she calls over her shoulder from the kitchen.

“Uh, without milk is fine,” he says, rather hesitantly.

She returns to the living room, handing him a mug and settling herself down in the chair across from him. She takes a sip of her tea, then she sets her mug down and clasps Eliot’s hand in hers. “Now, young man,” she begins, and she sees his eyes flash with the panic of those facing down a disappointed grandmother. “When are you going to get your act together?”

“What? I…”

Nana waves her hand in the general direction of Chaz and Sharon’s house. “My grandson has been staying here for a week, but it only took me a matter of hours to see it. You love them both, and they love you.”

Eliot seems flustered and surprised, and he flounders for a minute, opening his mouth and closing it several times. Nana waits until he pulls himself together to continue, “I know my grandson. He’s in deep for you. Don’t waste that.”

“But, ma’am,” Eliot says. 

“You should call me Nana too,” Nana interjects.

“Right. Nana…” Eliot starts again. “Hardison and Parker are together. Even if you’re right, I can’t compete with that. They got there first, and I can’t see how I would fit into that.”

Nana’s eyes soften, but her tone stays sharp. “Don’t be silly. You already do.”

They sit in silence for a while, as Eliot processes what she said. He still looks highly embarrassed, but at least now, he’s got a small smile playing across his face. Nana smiles to herself too. She feeds herself a cookie for nudging Eliot in the right direction. She can only hope he’ll move forward along that path. 

~~~

Nana doesn’t know Parker well, but she can imagine that Parker would not appreciate having a little sit-down with her like Eliot did. She just has to trust that Parker can see it on her own. She is the leader of their group, after all. She has to know how their pieces fit together.

So, no, Nana won’t talk to Parker. Her grandson is another matter.

She corners him while he’s sitting at her kitchen table, working on his laptop. From how he’s gloating as he types, she guesses that he’s just exposed the financial information that will take the HOA down.

She brings him over a piece of cake, tsking at the bottle of orange soda by his elbow. He spouts off some retort about how he needs it to do his work. 

She sits down next to him at the table. After she’s paused long enough that he looks up, she says, “I love that young man of yours.” Alec chokes briefly, clearly not expecting her to raise this subject.

He sputters for a moment before responding, “Nana, you know I’m with Parker.”

“Yes,” she replies. “I know.”

Alec gapes at her for a moment. “I don’t have a ‘young man.’ We’re just a team,” he says, but she can see that he knows that’s not true. It’s a feeble protest anyway. 

“They’re both so good for you, Alec.” His face softens, and she knows she’s gotten to him. “I’m so proud of who you’ve become.” He blinks at her for a moment, then leans over and gives her a big hug.

“Thanks, Nana,” he whispers into her neck. She squeezes him extra tight before letting go.

~~~

Three days after the con ends, Parker and Eliot host a neighborhood barbecue. Whatever Alec’s team did to stop the HOA had two for-sale signs up in the neighborhood already, with a third household bargaining to be able to stay. The rest of the neighborhood is relieved to see them go, and the Hendersons have taken their house off the market again, much to Nana’s delight.

Alec went over early to help with the set up, so Nana walks in by herself after the party is already in full swing. She has to smile at what she sees. In addition to landscaping the front lawn, Parker has also apparently been making changes in the backyard as well. There are bushes everywhere, in a pattern Nana can’t discern, but she assumes it means something. There are kids playing a game of tag while running around and through the bushes, shrieking with glee. Nana spots Parker herself surrounded by a group of the slightly older kids, not yet teenagers, all of whom are staring raptly as Parker explains how to pick a lock. All of the kids’ hands shoot up, presumably answering the question of who wants to try first, and Parker hands the contraption to a small blonde girl that Nana has seen before but never spoken to. Parker cheers on the girl as she works the lock, and Nana can’t help but feel her heart warm, even though she’s not sure this would usually be considered a heartwarming activity.

Nana hears cheering, and she turns her attention to the corner of the yard, where Eliot stands, surrounded by neighborhood dads, proudly presenting a plate of perfectly grilled burgers for their inspection. The dads bring the platter over to the table to add the burgers to the pile. John, a long-time resident and one of Nana’s close friends, claps Eliot on the back as he returns his attention to the grill.

Alec slides up beside her carrying two plates. She accepts hers gratefully and makes her way to the house’s back wall, so the two of them can lean against it and watch the proceedings. 

“I know I’ve said this already, but thank you,” Nana says, glancing over at her grandson. “I can’t say that enough.”

Alec smiles at her. “Of course, Nana. You know I’ve always got your back. You gave me a home. It’s only fair that I help you keep it.” 

Then there’s nothing for it but to pull her grandson close and hug him tightly. They smile at each other, a little wet around the eyes, as they pull away and turn back to watching the crowd. Eliot, who has handed over control of the grill to John so he can eat his own meal, heads over to Parker. She’s now timing the kids to see how quickly they can break into her house. _So that’s what the bushes are for_ , Nana thinks, as one of the older pre-teens uses a bush to step up and grab hold of the lattice panels with the beginnings of vines winding their way up. Well, some of them anyway. She can’t imagine that the bushes in the middle of the yard would do much to help someone climb a wall, but maybe they’re there to provide cover. 

Eliot says something to get Parker’s attention, and she turns to him, laughing. He hands her a cup of some drink or other, and his hand lingers on hers as the cup changes hands. Parker’s smile grows softer, before she turns her attention back to the kids. Eliot turns around to head back towards the grill, and now he’s facing Nana and Alec. Nana glances over and sees that Alec has practically melted. She gives Eliot a thumbs up and laughs when Alec exclaims “Nana!” in a tone indicating he’s trying to be annoyed at her meddling but can’t deny that he’s pleased. She pats his arm consolingly, then takes his hand and drags him away from the wall.

“That’s enough lurking. It’s time for me to show off my grandson to all my friends.” She heads towards a group of people, thinking to herself that she truly did a good job, raising her boy to be like this. Now the neighborhood is happy, and her grandson has two people to look out for him and care for him and protect him while he’s off saving people from those who want to take advantage. 

Yeah, she did alright.


End file.
